Affiliations 

  • 1 HICoE - Center for Biofuel and Biochemical Research, Institute of Self-Sustainable Building, Department of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Seri Iskandar 32610, Perak, Malaysia
  • 2 Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Engineering & Technology, Lahore 54890, Pakistan
  • 3 Department of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Ha'il, Ha'il 81441, Saudia Arabia
  • 4 Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Hail, Ha'il 55425, Saudi Arabia
ACS Omega, 2021 Jul 27;6(29):19099-19114.
PMID: 34337248 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.1c02402

Abstract

The energy demand of the world is skyrocketing due to the exponential economic growth and population expansion. To meet the energy requirement, the use of fossil fuels is not a good decision, causing environmental pollution such as CO2 emissions. Therefore, the use of renewable energy sources like biofuels can meet the energy crisis especially for countries facing oil shortages such as Pakistan. This review describes the comparative study of biodiesel synthesis for various edible oils, non-edible oils, and wastes such as waste plastic oil, biomass pyrolysis oil, and tyre pyrolysis oil in terms of their oil content and extraction, cetane number, and energy content. The present study also described the importance of biodiesel synthesis via catalytic transesterification and its implementation in Pakistan. Pakistan is importing an extensive quantity of cooking oil that is used in the food processing industries, and as a result, a huge quantity of waste cooking oil (WCO) is generated. The potential waste oils for biodiesel synthesis are chicken fat, dairy scum, WCO, and tallow oil that can be used as potential substrates of biodiesel. The implementation of a biodiesel program as a replacement of conventional diesel will help to minimize the oil imports and uplift the country's economy. Biodiesel production via homogeneous and heterogeneous catalyzed transesterification is more feasible among all transesterification processes due to a lesser energy requirement and low cost. Therefore, biodiesel synthesis and implementation could minimize the imports of diesel by significantly contributing to the overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Although, waste oil can meet the energy needs, more available cultivation land should be used for substrate cultivation. In addition, research is still needed to explore innovative solvents and catalysts so that overall biodiesel production cost can be minimized. This would result in successful biodiesel implementation in Pakistan.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.